 Peter Criss had a car accident in 1978 that injured him, thus he only
played drums on "Dirty Livin'". Anton Fig was brought in to
record the majority of the tracks. Of course, this wasn't announced at
the time as KISS was still a perfect family in the fans' eyes and the
band wanted to keep it that way.
Anton Fig later went on to record with Frehley's
Comet and became the regular drummer on Late Night with David Letterman.
Richie Fontana plays drums on I Was Made For Lovin' You. "Escape
From Hell" was the subtitle of Dynasty's Japanese release.
In the original album, a huge poster was included of the four KISS members,
pictured below. Click on the image to view a larger image.
The cover of the Dynasty album is actually a collage of photos taken from
the photo session, and not a group shot as it appears.
'2,000 Man' was originally performed by The
Rolling Stones on their 'Their Satanic Majesty's Request' album
in 1967.
KISS' manager, Howard Marks, co-wrote "Charisma" with Gene.
Giorgio Moroder was originally scheduled to produce Dynasty. Moroder would
later go on to fame as producer of the music in Flashdance as well as
with Donna Summer.
Paul plays bass and performs the guitar solo in 'Sure Know Something.'
Paul also plays bass in 'I Was Made For Lovin' You.'
Ace plays all the instruments except the drums on '2,000 Man,' 'Hard Times'
and 'Save Your Love.' Anton Fig handles the drums for these songs.
Dynasty was the last high-charting album by KISS for several years at
#9 on Billboard's charts.
Rumor had it that Paul wrote 'I Was Made For Lovin' You' as a joke to
prove how easy it was to write a disco song.
"I Was Made For Lovin' You" was KISS' first songwriting collaboration
with Desmond Child, who would show up later on 'Animalize,' 'Asylum,'
'Crazy Nights,' 'Smashes, Thrashes & Hits,' and 'Hot In The Shade.'
A third KISS/Marvel comic was supposed to be released in 1979 but was
shelved after KISS found out Marvel wanted ownership of the KISS characters'
copyrights.
Kiss in their new "Dynasty" costumes.
The Dynasty tour was the first to have Gene soar up to the rafters after
his solo to perform 'God of Thunder.' This was done again on the reunion
tour.
Paul, still struggling to come up with an antic for his 'character,' like
the other three members, had originally wanted a laser to appear to shoot
out of his eye during the show but found out he could be permanently blinded
if he tried it.
The band was planning to open an amusement park called KISS World at this
time. KISS World would be all KISS, all the time, with KISS themed games,
rides and memorabilia, but the cost turned out to be too great. To bad,
that would have been a blast!
A fateful appearance on Halloween 1979 on The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder
saw an interview turn into mayhem when Peter and Ace overtook the proceedings
from the usual conversation leaders, Paul and Gene. Ace was noticeably
wasted, but was very charming and funny.
The Dynasty tour actually lost money due to poor ticket sales and an extravagant
stage show (EACH concert cost nearly $1 million!).
During a December 1979 show in Shreveport, Louisiana, Peter quit drumming
in the middle of a show and KISS was forced to end the show early. The
band was infuriated by Peter's actions. After the Dynasty tour was over,
Peter announced his plans to the group that he was leaving. His last performance
with KISS was on December 16, 1979.
1979-1984 would be the hardest years of KISS's career as their popularity
plummets and they lose a total of 4 members.
 
Peter Criss released two solo album
in the early 80's soon after leaving Kiss. |
